Pledge to

Vote for the Law of Ecocide and the creation of an international environmental court

This pledge closed over 3 years ago

How this will help

Environmental destruction must become a crime. A crime for which individuals and companies can be held responsible. That crime has a name: Ecocide.

What is Ecocide?

Eco-cide derives from the Greek "oikos" meaning "house" or "home" and the Latin "caedere" meaning "stike down, demolish, kill". It literally translates to killing our home. Ecocide is the destruction of our natural environment. Defined as the extensive damage to, destruction of or loss of ecosystems of a given territory it covers all major environmental disasters.

What's our goal?

We want Ecocide to become a crime for which companies and individuals can be
held responsible according to criminal law. This law would cover entire ecosystems, as opposed to existing legislation only protecting single elements. By holding decision-makers directly liable for the damage done under their authority, the law of ecocide is a very strong tool to trigger the transformation to a new society in which we place people and planet before profits.

Ecocide Examples

Large-scale land use change that causes the direct destruction of
habitats – as is the case with deforestation in most tropical
rainforests.Significant pollution whether deliberate or incidental – such as oil dumping and spills.Open cast mining where entire landscapes are removed – as is the case with oil sands and some coal and gold mining.

How does it work?

We propose to establish a new law in the European Union that will define the extensive damage to nature as a crime. In addition to 112,000 votes we have collected so far through the European Citizens' Initiative (ECI), we are now collecting signatures that will be submitted altogether as a petition to the EU Parliament end of September 2014.

We are one of the initiating organisations of the Charter of Brussels, published on January 30th in the European Parliament. The Charter is calling for the establishment of an international court to try crimes against the environment, such as Ecocide. Vote and read more here. (Everyone can sign this petition).

Wish 20

Polly Higgins, an
international lawyer, proposes to make Ecocide the 5th International Crime
Against Peace. Ecocide would then become illegal worldwide and anyone that
breaks this law could be convicted by the International Criminal Court. Take action for Wish 20(everyone can support).